22oz bottle from Belmont Station in Portland, OR. Pours a black body with a finger-width, dense and creamy, brown head that dissipates slowly and leaves a nice lacing. Aroma is rich chocolates and cocoas with a good amount of pumpkin, a nice cinnamon, some pie crust, touches of ginger and allspice, hints of vanilla, and a solid roast backing. Flavor is similar. Lightly spiced up front with some toasty caramels, dark chocolates and cocoa nibs, vanilla, and a light pumpkin. Roasts, spices, and a medium-light earthy bitterness come out more towards the end as this dries nicely before leaving a lengthy aftertaste. Medium, smooth body and a somewhat creamy, moderate carbonation. Overall, a pretty solid beer. Lots of chocolate and roasts with a light pumpkin and a good amount of spices that help dry this out. Good one.

On tap at Apex, pours a deep dark brown with a small beige head. Aroma of mild pumpkins, autumn spices and some light cocoa. Flavour is fairly subdued on the pumpkin, bringing out more of the chocolate notes. Quite a nice roasted quality too. No ABV detectable. Fairly light-bodied, but pleasantly flavoured. Solid stuff.

Bottle from Belmont Station. Wet pumpkin, spices, and slightly toasted malts on the nose. Lots of pumpkin, nutmeg, honey, and graham cracker on the palate. Bits of pie and spices finish it out. Good pumpkin brew!

Bomber. Pours black with a layer of light brown foam and bubbles. Aroma is highlighted by pumpkin pie, bittersweet chocolate, cinnamon, allspice and clove. The taste starts out with dark chocolate, roasted malt and coffee followed by notes of nutmeg, cardamom and ginger. Also some citrus characteristics from the hops. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied with moderate carbonation and a roasted bitter finish. Overall, a decent Pumpkin Porter that could use more pumpkin flavor and less charred roasted bitterness.

22oz bottle from Belmont Station.
A: Thick, oily black with a creme head. Slides off the glass.
N: Pumpkin, nutmeg, chocolate, coffee, graham cracker. The base porter shows through pretty well. Really like this one.
T: Pumpkin and chocolate on the front stage. Nutmeg and allspice. This has a sting of bitterness which doesn’t mesh well. Mint. Needs more pumpkin, less hop.
M: Medium mouthfeel. Very porter-like.
O: Wish this was more like the nose. Would be a surefire winner if that was the case. For now, just a recommend for fans of the style.

22 oz bottle from BMOOR. Finally got around to opening this. Pours a rich deepsih black pour, dark and near opaque, some brownish edges. Frothy tannish light brown head stays as a nice film, laces ok. Aromas offer some strength, cinnamon and pie spice, toffe and roast. Cocoa, caramel, toffee. Pie crust, biscuits, pumpkin, vanilla. Really nice play and synergy between the elements. Great pumpkin elements, spice, with firm base porter elements still striking blows. Initial is medium bodied, offering a firm coating of roast and toast, caramel. Not sweet, not too roasty, some creaminess, toast, and cocoa elements shed light. Pie spice, cinnamon and nutmeg, pumpkin, caramel and toffee. Middle offers some cocoa, toffee, touch of girth with spice, pumpkin. Touches of dryness and roast returns into the backend, lingering spice, clooness and a touch of creaminess, bakers cocoa. Finish is spice from pumpkin elements but not overdone. Base really stand sup, great balance. Toffee sweeter elements in the middle, but spice and pumpkin, roast and toast, dryness and bakers chocolate linger in the backend and finish. Very nice, Matt. I remember this Flossmoor version and this one brings warm memories back of that beer.

UPDATED: SEP 29, 2013 On tap @ Super Deli Mart. Pours watery dark black with a thin head. Aroma is roasted malts, maybe burnt a bit. Taste is dark malt, again a little over roasted. Some pumpkin spice flavor but really no pumpkin. That’s what you’d get with the better Elysian pumpkin efforts like Dark o’ the Moon. Also lacking the smooth and rich body you might expect from an imperial porter. Not bad, and I like Oakshire a lot, but this is a tough style to master.
Revisiting a year later. Body seems a little heavier. Overly roasted, burnt notes still dominate. Definitely some dark cocoa flavor, but does seem a stretch to call this a chocolate porter. And again, some pumpkin spice but lacking the richer pumpkin taste found in others.

Tastes like an average porter. The appearance is quite nice. Thin whispy head with a motor oil black body. Back to the taste though, I didn’t get much chocolate or pumpkin flavor out of this one. It’s really a decent beer, good even but the title was misleading to me. I expected a bit more. One I might try again but nothing too memorable.

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